1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a lightweight, shoulder-fired, flat-trajectory, disposable, multi-shot weapon system. In particular, this invention relates to a disposable weapon system for shooting ammunition rounds capable of penetrating armor personnel carriers (APC), wherein the weapon system is designed to minimize weight, to minimize cost, and to maximize safety.
2. Background Art
Military operations have demonstrated the need for a weapon, to be used by infantry troops, capable of incapacitating armored vehicles. This task, however, has proven to be difficult. The weapons currently available to infantry forces lack the capability to damage such vehicles.
To illustrate the difficulty in destroying armored vehicles, an example is helpful. Some APCs are constructed of approximately two inches of rolled homogenous armor (RHA) and are capable of traveling at speeds of approximately 35 miles per hour. These two factors, coupled with the distance that a solider is positioned away from the vehicle when firing his weapon, make the APC almost immune from small platoon attacks.
Some weapons do exist that are capable of penetrating the two inches of metal shielding an APC. However, many of these weapons lack a flat-trajectory projectile path, thus making the likelihood of hitting the target extremely small. In other words, a remote probability exists that a weapon will hit a target moving up to 35 miles per hour at a distance of over 200 meters using a "lob" trajectory path.
Additionally, the existing weapon systems with the same capabilities as the present invention are fired "over the shoulder" or from a platform. One reason for this type of firing method is that the weapons are bulky and heavy, which also negates the feasibility of use by infantry forces. Also, these weapons are fired from a position other than against a solider's shoulder because the resulting back-blast could injure the weapon user. Furthermore, this back-blast makes firing these weapons impracticable in closed spaces and extremely dangerous to fire forward of other soldiers or supplies.
The existing weapons are also expensive. The weapons are designed to withstand a large number of firings, possibly 10,000 rounds or more. The materials, therefore, must be manufactured to endure the peak stresses and the average stresses of every firing plus withstand the cyclic loading for each firing. As a result, the engineering design not only increases the cost of these weapons, but also creates an unwieldy weapon for infantry troops.